FIRST OFF . . .

A tearful Joan Rivers said Tuesday that an article about her and her late husband in the December issue of Gentlemen’s Quarterly magazine contained “a total pack of evil, vicious, sick lies” and said she plans to file a $50-million libel suit against the New York-based magazine. Rivers made her announcement at a news conference at the Westwood Marquis Hotel, flanked by her attorney Bob Chapman and her 19-year-old daughter, Melissa. Rivers demanded a “total and immediate retraction” from the magazine, which, she said, implied that her marriage to the late Edgar Rosenberg was on the rocks before his suicide in August and that she had wished her husband were dead. “This vicious article ripped open emotional wounds that had just barely started to heal,” Rivers said. “(Melissa and I) are still in a state of deep grief from the totally unexpected loss of my late husband.” Suzanne Eagle, a spokeswoman for Gentleman’s Quarterly, said the magazine would have no comment because it has not received any court papers. In addition to her plans to sue the magazine, Rivers said she is offering a $5,000 reward to the person who provides the true identity of the article’s author--known only by the pseudonym of Bert Hacker.